The door to the attic was locked, and I wondered if it had been locked to keep me out. Fortunately, I knew a thing or two about lock-picking. In attempts to (hopefully) save lives, I had broken into countless lockers to remove whatever would kill the poor sap. I don't recommend it. I got caught more times than I could remember – even when I roped in OD to help me.

I pulled a bobby pin from my hair and looked around. I didn't think anyone would come up here, so I set about breaking in. After a few unsuccessful twists in the lock, I felt something give, and I turned the knob.

Pushing the door open slowly, I peeked in, half expecting to find someone inside. When no one screamed at me to go away, I pushed the door open wider, and stepped inside. Like the last time, this room was completely dark.

Feeling along the wall, I finally found the light switch and flicked it on. I shut the door behind me, and made my way over to the drawer.

I picked up the postcard once again. My fingers traced the words on the back of the card.

"Facility…" I mouthed the words in wonder.

"What are you doing here?" A snotty voice I would have recognized anywhere rang out through the room.

I groaned, but turned to face Cordelia head on.

"Reading," I replied glibly, fixing my attention on the words once again.

"Oh! I get it now!" A sly, yet knowing smirk spread across her face. "You're curious, aren't you?"

"Curious about what?" I asked, feeling an arrow of fear pierce through the pit of my stomach.

"Have you been dreaming lately? About things that you've never seen before, or known?"

"There was that one time… When I first met Kanato… But that doesn't mean anything!" I stared at her defiantly. "It doesn't mean anything!"

Cordelia laughed a tinkling laugh; the kind of laugh that went with pigtails, and pink bubble-gum, and rainbows. The kind of laugh that made no sense coming from her bared and glistening teeth.

"Oh, you are so naïve! It was cute last time, when you were younger, but now…" Her eyes seemed to turn pitch black. "It just pisses me off."

"So, what did you dream about?" She asked, even though it sounded like she already knew, and was just waiting for me to confirm her suspicions.

I looked down at the ground. "… Ayato. He drank your blood. He killed you. You kept screaming for Kanato, and Laito. But they never came to help."

"And?" She cooed in a sugary sweet voice.

"And…" My voice trailed off.

I wanted to stop talking, but I couldn't. It was as if something else had control of my body. They were controlling me, and I couldn't snap out of it.

"Kanato burned your dead body. He took the ashes and stuffed them in his bear." I went on in a robotic monotone, my eyes curiously blank.

"Excellent!" Cordelia was practically shrieking in ecstasy, she was so happy.

"Maybe, as a little reward… I'll let you see what happened at the facility. You can't remember anything, can you? You poor dear…" Her voice was meant to be kind, and comforting, and I would normally have scoffed at it.

But now, I felt oddly comforted.

Cordelia leaned in, and pressed her lips to my forehead.

"No! Stop it, please!" The boy's irritating high pitched squeals and cries for help continued, intensifying, when a girl drew her bow.

She took aim, and fired.

His screams cut off, and she turned to face the couple, who were watching safely from behind the glass.

"Cordelia-sama… Richter-sama… Did I do well?"

"Yes, you've done very well!" Cordelia bestowed a smile upon the young girl, whose violet eyes widened, pleasantly surprised by this little display of affection.

The girl bobbed a little curtsey, and returned to her original position, awaiting her next orders.

"Experiment number 321 is doing very well," A man in a white lab coat informed Cordelia and Richter. "She's already taken out numbers 34, 60, 59 and 18."

"Is that so?" Cordelia turned, and regarded the girl thoughtfully.

"In that case, have her fight number 01. Tomorrow. I shall come and observe." Richter spoke up, his gaze drifting down to the girl.

"B-But Richter-san, that's…"

"It's an order. She's good, but if she dies…" He shrugged his shoulders. "There will always be more replacements."

Cordelia's face looked unhappy. "I do like this one. She's much more useful than stupid Kanato."

The little girl's face remained impassive, but she had heard everything.

Cordelia-sama thinks I'm useful… To think that she would acknowledge someone like me…

Her grip on the bow tightened.

I cannot let her down!

There was a loud crack, and I jumped, my eyes open wide, back into the attic of the Sakamaki mansion.

Cordelia's eyes were strangely wild, her smile triumphant.

"Did you like it?"

I gasped, surprised to be back in my body. It was odd to feel the heavy sensation of arms and legs again. My headache faded, but didn't disappear. My stomach flipped, but I didn't think I'd vomit. My bones hurt considerably, but that, too, was a passing feeling. I did feel weak, and wobbly, and my skin felt like it was burning.

"Like… It…?" I rasped out, having trouble forming the words correctly. "Are you crazy? Who was that girl?"

"You know her. You do." Cordelia insisted. "You and she are one."

"Cut it out with your fortune cookie nonsense! I don't want to have anything to do with you, or that child! All I want is to be…" I bit my lip, and trailed off.

How ironic. Even I didn't know what I wanted.

Cordelia shook her head. "After all you've been through, you can't back out now. I won't let you back out. You made an agreement with me, remember?"

"What agreement?" I was screaming now; fear and frustration made themselves plain in my voice. "I can't remember anything! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You are mine. I made you. I chose you." Cordelia stated. "Like it or not, you are a monster. You can't change that."

"I don't believe you. You're lying."

Cordelia stalked forward, and dug her fingers into my throat.

"How dare you!" She hissed. "I have done nothing of the sort!"

I couldn't breathe, and for a few terrifying seconds I thought she would kill me. But then she released me, and watched as I gasped for breath, like a fish out of water.

"'Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.'" Cordelia quoted Friedrich Nietzsche. "Think on that until the next time we meet."

I was glad when she vanished, and yet there was an unmistakable sense of loss. It took a lot of effort to restrain myself from begging Cordelia to come back. I couldn't figure out why I felt like that.

"Get over it. You have to protect Yui, remember?"

I tried to get myself to focus, but it was hopeless. Silent tears slid down my face, and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

Stupid Cordelia. If she appears again, I'm going to punch her!

But what frightened me the most was that I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it.

"Really! What are you doing here, Antoinette?" Yui asked from behind me, startling me so much that I gasped, and whirled around.

Then she saw how I hard I was crying, and concern crossed her face as she crossed the room to crouch down beside me.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly, slipping a comforting arm around my shoulders. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone, promise."

"… Hey, Yui. Am I a… Good person? Or am I a… A… Monster?" I asked, the words feeling strange in my mouth.

"'A good person'?" She repeated thoughtfully.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to," I mumbled, scrubbing at the tears that ran down my cheeks. "I'll understand."

"Hm… But that's not a hard question at all!" Yui smiled brightly, and clutched my shaking hands in her own warm ones.

"I know that you're truly a good person. Not a monster, not a killer. You're my best friend. You're brave, and strong. You're Antoinette Leblanc, and we'll always, always, be friends. Okay?"

"Okay," I whispered back, smiling through my tears.

Yui gripped my hand tightly. The warmth was reassuring as she carefully guided me out the door.

Not a monster, not a killer, she'd said.

I just hoped it was true.